Monday, November 30, 2015

Nationwide rallies by labor groups on Bonifacio Day raised the twin workers issues of living wages and regular jobs. With the elections looming, the partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) challenged presidential candidates to heed the workers clamor.

Members of PM ripped copies of temporary employment contracts and pay slips with withholding taxes in a symbolic reenactment of Bonifacio’s tearing of the hated cedula that started the Katipunan’s revolution against Spanish colonial rule.

“We condemn the epidemic of contractualization perpetrated by capitalists to demolish labor standards and lambast the government for killing the proposed tax cuts that would have raised the take home pay of workers,” Magtubo argued.

PM joined other workers groups in the Nagkaisa labor coalition in a several thousand-strong march from UST Espana to Mendiola. Mobilizations in cities like Cebu, Bacolod, Tacloban, Davao and General Santos picketed ticketing offices of Philippines Airlines in a show of solidarity for 117 employees who were victims of a recent mass layoff. The union Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) has a pending notice of strike over the latest retrenchment.

Magtubo explained that “Giving tax breaks to wage earners is not a loss to the government because increased take home pay leads to bigger spending for goods and services. Such will spur growth in manufacturing, agriculture and services sector, and thus enlarge tax collection by the government.”

With the Paris COP21 talks on climate change about to start, the Bonifacio Day appeals by workers also included calls for climate justice, climate jobs and just transition. “Labor’s demand for decent work is integral to adaptation and mitigation as people with regular employment and social insurance are better prepared to face recurring disasters,” Magtubo elaborated.

There was also an internationalist angle to the local celebration of Bonifacio Day as workers of Korean companies based in the country expressed solidarity with the Korean labor movement which has been the subject of raids and arrests by the government of Park Geun-Hye. Placards signed by the workers unions of Tae Sung Phils. in Cavite and KEPCO Cebu read “Solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Korean labor movement! Stop the raids on union offices and arrests of labor leaders! No to state repression!”

PM vowed to continue solidarity actions for the embattled Korean labor movement even as the group criticized Korean companies in the country for union busting and unfair treatment of workers. The partylist group cited the labor disputes at Tae Sung and KEPCO Cebu and also the deaths of dozens of workers at the giant Hanjin shipyard in Subic to buttress its point.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Workers believe that living on low-carbon diet is the only chance for Mother Earth to survive the climate crisis. And the only way to achieve lower carbon economy is by significant cutback in industrial activities that emit megatons of greenhouse gas (GHG) into the atmosphere.

The partylist Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed this view as it joined the multisectoral March for Climate Justice this morning at the Quezon Memorial Circle, together with labor coalition Nagkaisa.

Among the workers’ demands were climate jobs and climate resilient communities as well as decent work as they believe that people with regular employment and social insurance are better prepared to face recurring disasters.

Partido Manggagawa, however, believes that resilience is mere adaptation to lessen the impact of calamities and therefore cannot be considered as the ultimate solution to climate crisis.

“Capitalist industries created this crisis. The solution therefore lies on whether this world will continue living under capitalism or it maps the right path to solving this crisis,” said PM in a statement.

The group said a handful of industrial powers which contribute more than two-thirds of global GHG emissions will never give up their global trade position in oil and energy production, mining, car manufacture as well as their control of other hard industries that largely pollute the environment.

“They will just invest on ‘clean technology’, trade their carbon footprints, monetize nature by seizing control of the renewable energy market and then negotiate for business-as-usual bottom lines. Thus, the Paris negotiation may produce concrete national commitments this time but never will rich capitalist countries seek an end to climate crisis,” the group said.

According to PM, plotting a way towards the tamang daan (right path) in addressing the climate crisis requires a change to both the economic and political system.

“The crisis is really a question of power – of who decides what is good for whom? The capitalist ideology of free market, which in business translates to freedom of owners of capital to exploit labor and nature to gain profit to the max is a development hoax. It allows unlimited growth to corporations at the expense of people and nature.”

PM said under the tamang daan, people will be at the center of all development endeavours while nature will be consigned by the majority to common use for the common good of humanity.

“Workers do have a name for this tamang daan. Socialist parties in Latin America and Europe call it the 21st century socialism,” concluded PM.

Friday, November 27, 2015

The workers party list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) today condemned
the Aquino government for rejecting the proposed bill lowering income taxes as
it called on its members to join the Black Friday protest. “If Heneral Luna was
alive today, he will be part of the #BlackFriday protest while shouting ‘Punyeta
ang mataas na buwis sa manggagawa!’,” exclaimed Rene Magtubo, PM national chair
and one of its partylist bets for the coming elections.

Magtubo stated that PM members in factories are holding lunch break actions
today in support of the #BlackFriday protest called by groups pushing for lowering
of income taxes. “Factory workers in Metro Manila and the export zones in
Cavite and Cebu, and also members of the Philippine Airlines union PALEA are
participating in the #BlackFriday protest.” Magtubo explained.

PALEA members are holding pickets today at Philippine Airlines offices
at the airport to demand the reinstatement of 117 employees to be laid off on
November 30. Besides opposing the mass layoff, PALEA members are also raising
the call for lowering income taxes.

“Inclusive growth is just a marketing gimmick if it cannot be made
concrete by tax reform benefiting workers. Workers, as fixed income earners
subject to withholding taxes, carry the onerous burden of primarily financing
the coffers of the state but suffer from poor social services that are subject to
political patronage,” Magtubo elaborated.

He challenged presidential candidates to heed the clamor of workers for
progressive taxation and lowering of income taxes. “Mar Roxas’ alibi that tax
reform during the election season is not timely is a lame excuse. If daang
matuwid does not lead to tax reform then it is a deadend for workers,” Magtubo
argued.

PM vowed to push for tax breaks for workers as part of its electoral
platform. The labor partylist group’s “Apat na Dapat” platform includes lowering
of prices, living wages, regular jobs and quality public services. PM insists
public services must be funded from the proceeds of progressive taxation that
shifts the burden from workers and the poor to the rich and employers.

Friday, November 20, 2015

The
labor party-list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) denounced President Benigno
Aquino III for neglecting to raise urgent concerns of Filipino workers of
Korean-owned companies in the country to South Korean President Park Geun-Hye
at the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Media had
reported that Aquino vowed to protect some one million Koreans residing in the
Philippines as requested by Park.

Rene
Magtubo, PM national chair, stated that “As we expected, when President Aquino met
President Park, they talked about promoting trade and investments. Aquino spoke
not a word about protecting union rights and decent pay for workers despite many
ongoing labor rows involve Korean-owned factories in the Philippines.”

“On
the specific case of Korea’s state-owned KEPCO coal plant in Cebu, the Office
of the President had intervened to impose an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) on
the planned strike against illegal dismissals and union busting. These
circumstances merit it being discussed between the two presidents if only to
resolve the long-running dispute,” Magtubo added.

Workers
from two Korean-owned companies now embroiled in labor disputes had challenged APEC
on the issue of labor rights. Employees of power company KEPCO-Cebu and metal
factory Tae Sung in Cavite have charged their managements with union busting
and have pending labor disputes.

Lowell
Sanchez, president of the KEPCO Cebu Supervisors
Association (KCSA-WSN-Sentro), challenged the government to resolve the labor
dispute. The KEPCO union filed a notice of strike last June for the unfair
dismissal of Sanchez. The planned strike of the KEPCO workers was stopped by an
AJ order so that it will not affect the APEC ministers meeting in Cebu last August.
KEPCO operates coal plants in Cebu and Batangas.

Meanwhile,
according to Charlie Piamonte, union president of Tae Sung Employees Association
(TEA), they filed a notice of strike last November 12 for union busting. He
explained that Tae Sung illegally fired union officer Joven Niviar, among other
incidents of harassment of union members. The union is planning to conduct a
strike vote within the next few days. Under the law, a union may launch a
strike seven days after a majority of union members authorize it through a
vote. Tae Sung is based in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite and
produces metal parts for the supply chain of multinational companies like
American Power Conversion-Schneider Electric, Honda, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar
and Siemens.

“KEPCO and Tae Sung are crystal clear examples of how APEC
has facilitated growth and profit for multinational corporations that operates
across borders. And they also fully illustrate how workers have born the
sacrifices for the phenomenal economic benefits that corporations have reaped
due to APEC. Workers across APEC countries contend with low pay, contractual
work and union suppression even as their labor created the doubling of real GDP
within APEC between 1989 and 2013,” Magtubo ended.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

In a multisectoral rally today in
Manila, the labor party-list group Partido Manggagawa (PM) decried the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit for its “pro-business, anti-labor
record.” Several hundred members of PM and other sectoral groups coalesced
under the People’s Forum on APEC marched from UST to Liwasang Bonifacio in this
major anti-APEC protest. As of the moment, police have blocked the mobilization
in front of the Metropolitan Theater.

Rene
Magtubo, PM national chair, stated that “Sacrifices born by commuters, students
and workers since Monday in lost time due to heavy traffic and lost pay due to
holidays as part of the summit are emblematic of the anti-people essence of
capitalist globalization that lies at the heart of APEC. APEC is engaging in
double-speak as repression of workers’ rights by its member countries belies
its inclusive growth tagline. Inclusive growth in APEC countries is impossible
without respect for basic labor rights, including the right to unionize and
receive living wages.”

He cited
as an example that “When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and South Korean
President Park Geun-Hye meet at this APEC summit, they surely talk about
promoting trade and investments. But we doubt they will even speak about
protecting union rights and decent pay for workers of Korean-owned companies in
the Philippines. Yet many ongoing industrial disputes involve Korean-owned
factories in the Philippines.”

Workers
from two Korean-owned companies based in the country who are now embroiled in
labor rows are challenging the leaders of the countries on APEC’s track record
on workers’ rights. Employees of power company KEPCO-Cebu and metal factory Tae
Sung in Cavite have charged their managements with union busting and have
pending labor disputes.

According
to Charlie Piamonte, union president of Tae Sung Employees Association (TEA),
they filed a notice of strike last November 12 for union busting. He explained
that Tae Sung illegally fired union officer Joven Niviar, among other incidents
of harassment of union members. The union is planning to conduct a strike vote
within the next few days. Under the law, a union may launch a strike seven days
after a majority of union members authorize it through a vote. Tae Sung is
based in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite and produces metal parts
for the supply chain of multinational companies like American Power
Conversion-Schneider Electric, Honda, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar and Siemens.

Meanwhile,
Lowell Sanchez, president of the KEPCO Cebu
Supervisors Association (KCSA-WSN-Sentro), challenged the government to resolve
the long-running labor row that is now the subject of an assumption of
jurisdiction (AJ) order from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. The KEPCO union
filed a notice of strike last June for the unfair dismissal of Sanchez. The
planned strike of the KEPCO workers was stopped by an AJ order so that it will not
affect the APEC ministers meeting in Cebu last August. KEPCO is South Korea’s
state-owned power company and operates coal plants in Cebu and Batangas.

“KEPCO and Tae Sung are crystal clear examples of how APEC
has facilitated growth and profit for multinational corporations that operates
across borders. And they also fully illustrate how workers have born the
sacrifices for the phenomenal economic benefits that corporations have reaped
due to APEC. Workers across APEC countries contend with low pay, contractual
work and union suppression even as their labor created the doubling of real GDP
within APEC between 1989 and 2013,” Magtubo averred.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Workers from two Korean-owned companies based in the country who are now embroiled in labor disputes are asking the leaders of the countries attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit if its agenda includes protection for labor rights. Employees of power company KEPCO-Cebu and metal factory Tae Sung in Cavite have charged their managements with union busting and have pending labor disputes.

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed APEC for “double-speak” as repression of workers’ rights belies its “inclusive growth tagline.” “Inclusive growth in APEC countries is impossible without respect for basic labor rights, including the right to unionize and receive living wages.” insisted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

He added that “When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye meet at this APEC summit, they surely talk about promoting trade and investments. But we doubt they will even speak about protecting union rights and decent pay for workers of Korean-owned companies in the Philippines. APEC is all about business and nothing about workers.”

According to Charlie Piamonte, union president of Tae Sung Employees Association (TEA), they filed a notice of strike last November 12 for union busting. He explained that Tae Sung illegally fired union officer Joven Niviar, among other incidents of harassment of union members. The union is planning to conduct a strike vote within the next few days. Under the law, a union may launch a strike seven days after a majority of union members authorize it through a vote. Tae Sung is based in the Cavite Economic Zone in Rosario, Cavite and produces metal parts for the supply chain of multinational companies like American Power Conversion-Schneider Electric, Honda, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar and Siemens.

Meanwhile, Lowell Sanchez, president of the KEPCO Cebu Supervisors Association (KCSA-WSN-Sentro), challenged the government to resolve the long-running labor row that is now the subject of an assumption of jurisdiction (AJ) order from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. The KEPCO union filed a notice of strike last June for the unfair dismissal of Sanchez. The planned strike of the KEPCO workers was stopped by an AJ order so that it will not affect the APEC ministers meeting in Cebu last August. KEPCO is South Korea’s state-owned power company and operates coal plants in Cebu and Batangas.

“KEPCO and Tae Sung are crystal clear examples of how APEC has facilitated growth and profit for multinational corporations that operates across borders. And they also fully illustrate how workers have born the sacrifices for the phenomenal economic benefits that corporations have reaped due to APEC. Workers across APEC countries contend with low pay, contractual work and union suppression even as their labor created the doubling of real GDP within APEC between 1989 and 2013,” Magtubo averred.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Lost income, travel ban, road closures and clamp down on protests are all that workers will get this week while APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) VIPs and delegates travel in comfort, ensured of total security, and their agenda heard and advanced during high level meetings.

According to the partylist group Partido Manggagaw (PM), this contrast is a mere continuity of the sharp divide that characterizes APEC history – “workers doing the great sacrifice while APEC leaders and the capitalist class take control of enormous wealth and appropriating it among themselves and the region’s 1%.”

Members of Partido Manggagawa and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) have a scheduled protest against the scourge of contractualization along the Airport Road and Roxas boulevard tomorrow but the total shutdown of the area is preventing many participants, including those coming from Cavite, from linking in.

“APEC will neither pay for workers’s lost wages nor care about their lost hours in traffic. APEC also won’t bother curtailing workers’ rights to protest. These are all because APEC is all for business, its agenda is all about free trade and free market,” stated PM chair Renato Magtubo.

Magtubo said that for almost three decades, APEC was nothing but an exclusive gathering of business leaders whose agenda for trade and investments are guaranteed by aligning governments’ legal frameworks on economic policies.

“Workers who created APEC’s USD 31 trillion GDP and facilitated 47% of world trade have never been made part of this Summit. All of APEC’s agenda come from the top CEOs under the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC),” said Magtubo.

According to PM, part of APEC policies that have been pushed by business is labor flexibilization that takes a major form in outsourcing/contractualization programs. “PAL’s outsourcing program is hailed by its bosses, as well as the Philippine President, as ‘global best practice’, indicating a major shift in the country’s industrial relation,” added Magtubo.

“Worldwide labor contractualization has become a plague – a policy that killed trade unionism, destroyed workers’ security of tenure, depressed wages, killed small and medium businesses, and driven millions of workers to unemployment and precarious working conditions in the informal economy,” explained Magtubo.

With a population of 2.8 billion people, the APEC economies are also home to the most number of billionaires, while some 750 million poor people live on less than USD 1.25 a day.

The Asian Development Bank has in fact noted that Asia’s rising inequality has denied the benefits of growth to many millions of its citizens “as the regions rich get richer much faster than the poor.”

Sunday, November 8, 2015

WHAT: PALEA members to mobilize for the first hearing in the trial of Diosdado Solidum, DOJ assistant fiscal charged by the union for mulcting

WHEN: Tomorrow, November 9 (Monday), 8:30 a.m.

WHERE: Sandiganbayan, QC

DETAILS: Solidum was previously suspended on the basis of a complaint by 241 PALEA members for extorting P2.5 million in exchange for the dismissal of a criminal case filed by Philippine Airlines. Former DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima had also cited the entrapment of Solidum as among the accomplishments of her office.

Website

Our Vision

Our dream is a world that gives due importance to the role of the working class and respects the dignity of labor. A social order where the working men and women of the world live together in peace, harmony and progress.Our aspirations lie in the emancipation of labor. A government that is truly of the workers, by the workers and for the workers.

Our hopes rest in a future where social progress thrives not for the benefit of a few people but for the development and richness of the entire humankind. A society that is free from the chains of wage slavery and where oppression does not exist.

Our Mission

Forge the unity of the workers into an independent working class party to organize them as a potent political force in social transformation towards the advancement and protection of labor from the scourge of globalization, establishment of a genuine workers’ government and the emancipation of the working class from capitalist exploitation and wage slavery.

Workers Unite!

The working class is the most important class in society. But, labor will only be a force to reckon with at a time when labor assumes the responsibility of leading the struggle to a decent living - free from exploitation of the propertied elite.

The time has come to rally every underprivileged sector of the society, to take the bull by the head and confront the issues of today. The working class must take an active role in every political exercise presented. The backbone of the independent party must be comprised of the working class with the other marginalized sectors in solidarity.

We must organize politically.

This is our own challenge and we must vow not to shirk from it.

Our future is in our hands, in our unity, in our struggle, in our party.